Ether Lights
by Lumiere-Esprit
Summary: In her, he finds his light. In her, he finds a friend. (Touken) Rated M to be safe (and it's very dark, torture)


_A/N: My first fanfic uploaded on the site! I'm so proud of this. Originaly, I wrote it for my English assessment task, but I was inspired by Tokyo Ghoul, so I was like, "Why not make it a fanfic?" So I did. Read away, Touken shippers!_

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The white and red speckled walls burn his eyes as the cruel dawn shines through the blood stained glass. The scarlet, burning on the dull grey floor, floods his bloodshot eyes, turning from their once sparkling grey to a mass of burning capillaries.

Dressed in a black suit and tie, the other one strides into the stained chamber, gazing down at his minute form in fascination. The cool, ebony gaze of the other pierced the burning crimson splayed out on the floor, staining the lower walls, and slowly creeping up the curved enclosure, trapping him in an endless sphere of scarlet.

The other one, the Black, strides out with sadistic smile on their face. One and the same, a single person to ruin everything he had ever known, toppling it all down in one blow. The boy hangs his head low, with streams of acid carving paths down his cheeks after the thought of the Black returning next morning. The moon gazes down on the thinning form of the boy, cloaking his frail body in celestial light. Caked with dried scarlet, he moves his wrists ever so slightly to make himself comfortable. Gently turning his head to face the sky, the salvation in the form of pinpricks of light in the ether, he sees the clouds cover the moon from his view.

The light ceases to shine.

Slowly, everything becomes white. The freezing silver, its cool arms embracing the world. Draining even the smallest pricks of colour from his form. Even his hair and skin take on the same, stark white. Only the Black, the other, who comes in every day to keep him stable, sane, the other called it. The other made him go up it nines, to keep him focused. Afterwards, he was free, somewhat, to drown himself in his own thoughts.

The strobe-like beams glaring down from the heavens trounce around him, his pale form bathed in the heavy light, corrupting his senses with the invading space of metallic air. Choking on the taste of mercury, his blood fills his mouth as he bites his tongue to keep himself quiet. The piercing pain is enough, more than enough to keep his defective senses working. His mane of frosted hair falls down in clumps around his diminishing form, as he stares down at the dull floor, refusing to look at the sky, the great expanse of cobalt blue, the very thing that used to be his salvation.

The ether has denied him the privilege of gazing at its perfection. Why should an imperfect, disgusting being like him be able to lift his head towards the heavens?

I feel like a beast, a monster. No longer human. I refuse to look up at perfection, only to be reminded of my own flaws, my sickening imperfections. The other, glaring down at my disheveled form, stole the tattered remains of my dignity as a being of the Earth. Carefully moving my boney arms, I retreat into my own thoughts. The cruel gaze of others can't reach me here. Can't reach me… can't reach me… can't reach…

The other's footsteps ring out on the pavement. Hauling my head towards the floor, I rub my raw wrists together as I wait for the other's disturbing presence once again.

"Ready to begin, my friend?"

I can hear the merciless smirk in his words.

The other leaves early. Against the rules of the lesser beings, I jerk my head towards the sky. I won't let them win. Not ever. I see great storm clouds. Rain graces the enclosure. The water comes pouring down onto my raised face, washing away the pain of this place. The cathartic acid invades my pores, rinsing away the caked scarlet and renewing my senses. Water, the azure drops of heaven, cleanse the darkness, and cleanse the other, the Black, as he creeps in, watching me become clean once again. Rain, pouring down, flooding the ghastly, metallic ruby enclosure.

The floods cleanse the enclosure, freeing its people of the corruption set into their hearts, washing away the insanity of the caked scarlet clinging to their rough skin. Waters rising, the people are raised to safety, away from the crimson and the other, the Black. One and the same, now gone.

The boy once again can gaze at the ether, the heavens, and the pinpricks of light in the dark. He can visit his friend once again. He is not the same as before though. The faint scars of tortured wrists show his pain. Because of this, he has learned many things, of which one thing he reminds himself of each day:

Everything is temporary. Nothing is permanent. Not even the ebony darkness, even when one cannot see the light at the end. All that one can do is try to walk in the light.

The torrential downpour drenches her thin coat, soaking through her sneakers and penetrating her skin. The freezing sensations force to run to the nearest shelter. Knocking on the door of his house, she stands outside in the torrent of water, waiting for her friend to open up.

The flowers in the pot near the door sway in her presence.

The slight knocking is drowned out in the downfall, but somehow, her friend hears the call. Opening the wooden door, he lets in his friend and invites her to sit down while he retrieves hot drinks for them both. Gazing into the crumbs of instant coffee on the bench, he shrugs off the thoughts of the other, and the other storm, the cleansing one. The past still haunts him, as he rubs his rough, scarred wrists. He hadn't been home in awhile before that, trapped within the enclosure and his own mind.

The whistling of the kettle reins his thoughts back towards the present, and his friend in his bedroom just around the corner. Grasping the handle, hands shaking gently, he pours out the pure liquid into two cups, hers with slightly more water than his, in an effort to be a good host. He carefully spoons bundles of the brown powder into both cups, watching them swirl around the cup like leaves in the wind. Lightly walking around the corner, he softly pushes to door open, and offers the china teacup to her. Slowly, he sits down on the bed, next to her.

Her shoulder-length locks of hair dripping everywhere, all over his shirt and the sheets on the bed, he stands abruptly, striding out to grab a towel from the cupboard near the kitchen. Peering back into the room, he awkwardly hands her the towel to clean herself up.

"…Thanks", She mutters, her melodic voice echoing through claustrophobic room.

She walks out to the bathroom to clean herself, peeling off her soaked clothes. She shuffles in some of his over-sized clothes, the extra fabric swaying around her thin form, and places her absolutely drenched clothes on the towel rack. Tears of the heavens, the ether deluge, pour down from the sky, washing away the clouds concealing the majestic ether lights, the pinpricks of hope in the dark for the minute, insignificant, people down on the Earth. Even if they can't help anyone, it's nice to have something to look toward. Hearing the door creak open, she turns her head to see him gazing at the stars as well. Turning back, she finds comfort in the silence of them both looking towards their hope, the ether lights.

-FIN-


End file.
